By BlueWatermelons@aol.com

It was a hot summer day in the summer of 1998. Inside the Backstreet Boys
tour bus, Howie D. was sitting on his bunk, reading a book, while Nick played
video games in the back and Brian slept. Kevin was simply wandering aimlessly
around, and Aj was nowhere to be seen, although Howie suspected he was still
in the bathroom, trying to decide the next color for his hair.

Suddenly, Kevin stopped next to Howie, then leaned down and drew back the
curtain. "Howard," he said, his voice quiet and serious, "I have made an
unfortunate discovery of which I believe you should be made aware."

Howie was confused. "Huh?"

Kevin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come with me." he ordered. Howie, not
knowing what else to do, followed as Kevin led him to the front of the bus.
"Look." he said.

Howie looked. The bus driver was gone, and a snowman was in his place.

"What the heck!?"

"Shut up!" Kevin hissed. "I don't want anyone else to know."

It was Howie's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever." he said, and went back to
his bunk and his book.

Meanwhile, in the back of the bus, Nick was totally wrapped up in a game of
Mario Kart and didn't notice the strange noises behind him until something
fell onto him, whacking his head.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, turning around. "Watch what you're doing!" Then he
stopped. Aj was behind him, standing on his head. "Um...Bone..." He cleared
his throat. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Aj demanded to know, clearly annoyed.

Nick thought about this (keep in mind he's a blond) before answering,
"Um...standing on your head, maybe?"

"Carter, you're blonder than I thought." Aj sighed. "I'm chasing a goat,
stupid. Now shut your yap before I have to take you to the Yapper Chamber!"

Nick chose to ignore this and went back to his game. Maybe Aj was going
insane. Maybe the dye he used on his hair was seeping into his brain. Maybe
I'm imagining things, he thought.

A few minutes later, Howie came in. "Nickolas, I desire your presence and
attention." he said.

"Go away." Nick muttered.

"Come with me." Howie ordered. "And why is Aj standing on his head?"

"He's not. He's chasing a goat." Nick explained.

Howie shrugged. "Oh, okay." he said. "My mistake." Howie quickly led Nick to
the front of the bus and pointed out the snowman.

"Whatever." Nick said. "Now bug off, I've got a game to finish." With that,
he walked off, leaving Howie feeling rather tired and confused.

When Nick got back to the Nintendo, Aj was off his head and had almost
finished Nick's game. Nick sat down to watch him, and when he did this, Aj
turned around. "Did the chickens come yet?" he wanted to know.

Once again, Nick didn't know what to think. "What chickens?" he asked.

"The ones that were coming for Brian." Aj told him. "That's why the Rok is
sleeping. He figured if he went to bed, he could hide under the blankets and
the chickens wouldn't find him. It was a good plan, except he fell asleep."

Nick nodded slowly, wondering what was happening to him. "Okay." he said.

"No, it's not!" Aj insisted. "They're gonna get Brian!"

"So what's your point?" Nick wanted to know.

Aj didn't answer right away. "Your MOTHER!" he said finally.

When Aj had finished his game, Nick decided to wake Brian up, with the
reasoning that...well, he wasn't sure what his reasoning was, but he had
nothing better to do. "Brian," he said, his voice barely above a whisper,
shaking his friend, "wake up." No response from Brian. "Yo, Rok-Man, get up."
Still nothing.

"That does it." he said to himself. "No more Mister Nice Nick." A pause,
then, "BRIAN THOMAS LITTRELL, WAKE UP THIS INSTANT, YOUNG MAN!" He sounded
like his mom.

Startled, Brian sat up, shaking his head, and looked around. He wasn't on the
bus. He was on a plane. Nick was looking at him like he was insane. Brian
cleared his throat. "Um, Nick," he began, "are the chickens here yet?"

Nick's stare intensified. "No." he said. "But, uh, are you feeling all
right?"

Brian blinked several times, gradually beginning to remember where he was.
"I'm fine." he said. "Just...forget about it."

"Okay." Nick said slowly. "Whatever you say."